


Birds of a feather - on break

by Bounceberry88



Series: Wishin' and Hopin' [4]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-10-12 11:26:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17466692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bounceberry88/pseuds/Bounceberry88
Summary: When Fareeha was younger, she always dreamed of joining Overwatch and being a hero, just like her mother. When Ana decided it wasn't what she wanted for her daughter, Fareeha was devastated. But it's in the past now. Overwatch is gone, a faded memory, and Fareeha's a student. She can't be a soldier, but that doesn't mean she'll never get to help people. Now, she needs to get her life on track, get a career, and make new friends. She won't say goodbye to her old ones, but it's time for a change of pace. This could be just what she needs.Whatever will she find?(please be aware this fic is on hold due to personal problems i'm dealing with, as well as a loss of interest in the story. sorry if you enjoyed reading, but if i do get round to writing, it won't be this for a while.)





	1. Starting from Scratch

**Author's Note:**

> a little sequel of sorts to the [first fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14543619/chapters/33603771) in this series, you can read this one alone but for an extra bit of context i'd recommend checking it out. quick summary for fareeha's pov; ana retired from ovw when reeha was 12, (shortly followed by rein+gabe+jack) so reeha had normal high school years and now shes off to uni. ages are whack just fyi

Fareeha sighed, picking up her suitcase and placing it on the bed. Well then. She did it. She was here, in her new dorm, in her university, unpacking her stuff and getting ready for the semester ahead. She had a roommate, and regular classes, and pretty much her entire wardrobe and desk packed into two small suitcases. This was it. No more afternoons teasing Jesse and playing frisbee with Lena. Her mother wouldn’t be just downstairs anymore. Fareeha had a weekly budget. She had to buy her own food, and get new clothes by herself... She couldn’t rely on anyone. She was alone.

“You don’t mind sorting your clothes into rainbow order, do you?” Satya, Fareeha’s roommate, asked from above. Fareeha looked up at her, she was sat on the top bunk with her laptop laid out neatly in front of her and her bed made precisely. Satya was… Polite. Not necessarily unfriendly, but she didn’t seem to want to get too close. And she certainly liked everything to be in order, that was clear. She had dark skin, and judging from the clothes she wore, blue was her favourite colour. That was something Fareeha had in common with her, at least. She hoped they’d manage to become close eventually. For now, the Amari was focused on unpacking all her stuff properly. She was trying her best, but she was also very conscious of the other girl watching her.

“Uh, yeah, sure. Most of my stuff is blue, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.” Fareeha said, pulling out her folded up t-shirts. That one black one with ‘Boss Ass Bitch’ in gold letters, a few plain blue ones of various shades, the red one with the bear on it…

Fareeha took them over to the closet built into the wall, sliding the door open. She blinked at the clothes in front of her, all carefully separated into light and dark on two racks, and of course put in rainbow order. The Amari wasn’t really surprised. Satya was clearly just like that. She’d introduced herself to Jesse and Lena and Fareeha’s mother very politely, and on the surface you wouldn’t really notice anything was different about the girl, but Fareeha had figured there was something. She wasn’t going to judge, everyone had their quirks, but it was just interesting to find a student so orderly. 

Sliding the door the other way, Fareeha found what she assumed were her own two racks of clothes, these ones empty but still somehow looking incredibly tidy. Fareeha dreaded the inevitable day when she’d be in a rush one morning and come back later only to find her roommate waiting for her, probably a knife in her hands. Though, that form of murder was quite messy, so it’d probably end up being poison. Fair enough, really.

Taking the metal hangers on the racks, Fareeha put her t-shirts away as neatly as she could, copying Satya’s method of having dark and light separated. There was a shoe rack on the floor of the closet, and even though Fareeha only had like three pairs of shoes, she knew she was going to be expected to use it.

It wasn’t like the Amari had a problem with being neat, but it was sometimes a hassle. In her old room nothing was remotely organized, but everything had its own place, and she could find what she was looking for in seconds. An outsider would be lost, yes, but for ‘Reeha it was like the back of her hand. Simple and easy, though oh so complex…

“The two left drawers in the dresser are also for you.” Satya stated, and Fareeha knew the architect's eyes were still following her every move.

“Thanks.” The Egyptian replied, going back to her suitcase to grab the few clothes that couldn’t be hung up. Well, some of them could, but they looked weird to her. Fareeha grinned to herself as she picked through the clothes, ignoring the regular jeans, sweatpants and leggings in favour of the ridiculous get-ups her friends and family had decided she should take with her.

Of course, there were the practical things; a pair of gloves, some singlets, fluffy socks, a huge knitted sweater, a scarf, and some plasters and headache medicine - all of which was courtesy of her mother. Fareeha had protested, but Amaris didn’t give in. It sucked sometimes, but at least her mum did things from a place of love...

Asides from the health and safety items, there were some other things in Fareeha’s suitcase some would say were questionable. Jesse and Lena had practically forced her to buy and take a pair of ridiculously high heels with her. To University. _Heels_. Don’t ask about the dress they suggested either, she’s not that insane. There was also a bunch of pins and badges for some reason - the union jack flag, a pride flag, an old overwatch symbol for some reason, and a fancy gold phoenix brooch, which Fareeha suspected was either Hanzo’s doing; or extremely fake. The Amari supposed each one had a meaning, so she might actually wear them at some point.

Moving on from the more controversial items, Fareeha found herself smiling at what was left in her suitcase once she took the aforementioned items out.

Shopping with Jesse and Lena and Sombra had always ended in giggles, but the Amari had to admit, of all people, _Genji_ was the one she’d go on a spending spree with at the drop of a hat.

Sure, he was pretty critical, and he was kind of - incredibly - bad with money, but he definitely made Fareeha realize how boring her clothes were, and he was even better at remedying that issue. She was actually super happy with these items; a cute blue summer dress, a leather jacket that actually made her look cool instead of like she was trying too hard, and she simply adored the pretty black silk scarf with gold hexagons that the Shimada had decided to get custom made for her. Those two brothers had so much money it was terrifying sometimes, but if Fareeha got free stuff for being Genji’s brother’s boyfriend’s bestie, she’d take it. The kid was pretty cool sometimes, honestly. And his fashion sense ruled.

As Fareeha packed away the last of her clothes, making sure she folded them neatly even though it seemed like Satya had lost interest, she felt a pang of sadness. She’d barely gotten to know Hanzo and Genji, even though she’d met them two or three months ago. Technically speaking, yes, they’d really only been mere acquaintances for a good portion of that time, but she’d still called them her friends. It seemed like when Hanzo started joining Jesse to hang out with her and Lena, Fareeha might get a chance to find a proper friendship with him, but now she was gonna be away from all her old friends for months, and she still didn’t know either Shimada very well at all.

With a small sigh, the Egyptian decided she should go shopping with Genji again when she got spare time in a weekend. He was just a kid, yeah, but he was funny, and maybe she could teach him a thing or two about growing up. She loved Jesse and Lena, but neither were a good role model, and Genji probably wouldn’t listen to Hanzo, so maybe Fareeha could be someone he actually looked up to.

As the Amari rifled through the few bags of school equipment, she glanced up at Satya. The architect’s gaze was on the screen in front of her, looking lost in thought. Fareeha turned back to her pens, knowing she should rearrange them. Rainbow order. She hadn’t seen a rainbow in a while. Maybe that was what Satya liked so much about the sequence. How rare it was. A freak accident of nature. Literal reflections of sunshine and random glimmery particles making an array of colourful lines that’s been observed and admired by thousands of generations, billions gazing at this incredible random event that you see and point out to your friends, a small splash of happiness after a gloomy day, its incredible existence all summed up with a particular order, a way of doing things that made it so easy to grab that accident and view it a million times over, and each time there’s this little satisfying feeling of everything connecting so gracefully… 

Well. Maybe Satya just liked to be able to remember where every colour was. If it made her happy, who was Fareeha to stop that? Rainbow order… 

~~

“Do you have your schedule?” Satya’s voice interrupted Fareeha’s thoughts, and the Amari looked up from her screen, blinking.

“For classes? I haven’t got it all planned out, but I did get some emails for a bunch of dates and times so I was gonna get that done tomorrow.” She replied, looking back down at her laptop to click on the bookmark. She scrolled down for a couple seconds, but Satya interrupted her search before she found any of the emails.

“If you would like I could set up a schedule for you. I- I’d rather we know what each other is doing at certain times so as not to disrupt any plans.” She suggested, for once her polite demeanor breaking for a split second, making her look much more uncertain and awkward than Fareeha had expected.

“Oh, uh- Sure! That’d actually be pretty helpful, thanks. I probably won’t be doing much other than studying and stuff in free time, so if you need me to clear off anytime I can just go to the library or whatever.” The Amari replied with a shrug, continuing to scroll.

“Ah- Sorry, I wasn’t trying to imply I’d like you to leave at any time, I was simply- I thought, uh, that _you’d_ want _me_ to leave.” Satya said quickly, and Fareeha looked back up at her with wide eyes.

“Oh god, no! I’m not gonna kick you out of your own dorm, Satya. I don’t have any reason I’d want you out, and even if I did I’m not just gonna force you to leave.” She said, grinning. She blinked as Satya stared at her for a few seconds, seeming study her expression, before the architect slowly nodded.

“O-Okay. I didn’t think you’d do something like that, I just- I wanted to make sure you had time here alone, so you weren’t- just in case- I know that I can, uh, be annoying, at times, and I wanted to make sure you didn’t have to deal with me 24/7.” She murmured, and it made Fareeha sad to see her so genuinely apologetic.

“Hey, I don’t think you’re annoying. You’re the first friend I’ve made here, and you’re a pretty good one.” She said, smiling kindly. Satya blinked at that, surprised.

“I am? I mean- are we? F- Friends, that is…?” She asked, her cheeks going darker with the tint of blush. Fareeha giggled.

“Of course! You’re my roommate, I can’t _not_ be friends with you.” She said, hoping she sounded sincere enough. It was true. And besides, Fareeha suspected that even if they weren’t roommates, she and the Architect would have become friends anyway. Sometimes that's just how the universe worked. Satya paused again, before she smiled slightly.

“Well, that is good to know. Perhaps you would like to come with me to lunch tomorrow? I believe you should meet a few of my own friends.” She suggested, and Fareeha’s smile widened.

“That’d be great! I’ve kind of been worrying about having to spend classes alone, do you think I might be meeting anyone you know?” She asked. Satya grinned back, looking much more relaxed than before.

“Well, perhaps I’ll know if you send me those dates.” She suggested, amusement sparkling in her eyes.

“I’m gonna need your email first. Or maybe your phone number? I should probably have a way to actually contact you in case of an emergency, yeah?” Fareeha asked, glancing at her computer, scrolling a bit more until she spotted a couple of the emails.

“Right, of course.” Satya said, grabbing a piece of paper from beside her to write down some info. She smiled as she passed it down to Fareeha. “Now, how much time do you plan to spend actually studying?”

Fareeha decided this was a pretty great start. Already one friend, and hopefully a few more tomorrow. And she’d only just moved in…


	2. The Friends to be made

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, how about that friend meeting?

Satya’s friends are actually a lot nicer than Fareeha expected.

No offense to the architect of course, but she wasn’t an immediately welcoming person, and you couldn’t blame ‘Reeha for suspecting the same of the people she hung out with. But, surprisingly, these two girls were actually super friendly.

The first one, a girl from China called Mei-Ling Zhou, was especially welcoming to Fareeha. She was apparently studying to be a climatologist, and she was very enthusiastic about helping people. When Fareeha had mentioned she used to want to join Overwatch, Mei clapped her hands in delight, saying she had the same dream once upon a time.

Mei had nerdy looking glasses and wore an oversized hoodie, giving Fareeha the impression she was a huge geek - and yes she knew she was stereotyping but the girl just said she wanted to be a scientist, if that wasn’t nerdy then Fareeha didn’t know what was - but she also kept a demeanor of being very polite, and she was very devoted to her passions. Fareeha decided she wouldn’t mind keeping Mei as her friend, and she suspected the girl had some good TV show recommendations hiding up her sleeve...

The other girl Fareeha had been introduced to, an elegant young French woman named Amélie, had been a fair bit closer to the Amari’s original expectations for Satya’s friends. She had an aura about her that just commanded respect, and when first introduced to ‘Reeha, she’d had the same guarded politeness Satya had displayed at first. There was also something else about her that seemed familiar, mostly the name, but Fareeha couldn’t place where she’d heard it mentioned before. Maybe it was just because of how similar it was to Emily, the name of Lena’s girlfriend… 

Despite Amélie not originally being quite as friendly as Mei, she eventually joined in the easy conversation the others had, and Fareeha managed to learn more about her. She’d also once wished to join Overwatch, and when she first moved to America she still thought it might be a possibility one day, but she found her true calling right around the organization’s end. Amélie was now studying fashion and art, but was mostly focused on her ballet. 

When the girl mentioned that she was a dancer, Fareeha really began to take in her physical appearance. She was pale and her long brown hair was tied back very neatly, and despite her lean frame she actually had quite a fair bit of muscle, which really showed she was indeed committed to her passion. Fareeha wondered if it wouldn’t be a bad idea to suggest they go to the gym together some time. The Amari did like to stay in shape - she’d been training all her life to be a soldier, and the habits never died - but recently she’d lost motivation to work out much, so maybe she could bond with Amélie while benefiting her health… 

Self goals aside, meeting Satya’s friends had overall gone incredibly well. Fareeha had been added to a group chat with them and a couple other people she didn’t yet know, and now she could officially say she had a group of friends in university. It made her kind of nervous, now that there were social expectations, but she was mostly relieved. The Amari would have no idea how to interact with anyone in any of her classes, and she was highly against just walking up to someone in the library or the cafeteria or wherever, so to have connections before the semester had even kicked off was a much welcomed change of pace. 

Now, back in the dorm and chatting to Lena - currently informing the brit about Mei, soon she’d mention Amélie - Fareeha was wondering when she’d get a chance to connect this new group of friends with her old one. Well, actually, she didn’t like calling them her old friends. It felt like she was already too disconnected and it had been just a couple days...

With a shake of her head, Fareeha decided the newest friends were her Uni friends, and the less recent (but still just as important) friends were her Home friends.

With the names officialized (by way of Fareeha glancing up at Satya, then looking back at Lena’s icon and smiling to herself) the Amari got back to her train of thought. She started typing a message about Amélie, when she got another notification.

Out of the corner of her eye, Fareeha spotted her roommate twitch. The Amari checked the message, it was one of the people in Satya’s group chat who she hadn’t talked to yet. Their username was ‘Mercy’, and their icon was angel wings.

The message was a greeting, and a question about who Fareeha was. The Amari blinked when Satya was first to respond, introducing her. ‘Mercy’ paused, then sent another message.

‘Oh! Great to meet you! Welcome to our little group chat. I’m Angela.’

Fareeha smiled, beginning to type out a reply, when Angela sent another message. This time it was a picture of herself.

Oh.

_Oh._

She had pale clear skin, and her titanium blonde hair was tied back in a messy ponytail with a portion of it hanging over the right side of her face, perfectly framing the most incredible blue eyes Fareeha swore were looking straight into her soul. On top of that she was holding up her hand nervously in a small adorable wave to the camera.

She was beautiful.

Fareeha was blushing.

“She doesn’t expect you to send a photo back.” Satya spoke, and the Amari was snapped from her daze, looking up at her.

“Oh, I- I’m okay with sending a photo of myself. I just- Wow.” Fareeha murmured, glancing back at the photo.

“I’m also surprised at how quickly you’ve become a part of our group. Not that it’s a bad thing, it just normally takes quite a lot longer than this.” Satya replied, not seeming to pick up one what Fareeha meant. The Amari quickly caught herself, realizing what she’d just said. Jesus, one photo and she was already head over heels.

“Uh, yeah! I’m really glad, all of you are super nice!” She said, grinning up at the architect. Satya smiled back, then returned her attention to her own computer screen. Fareeha sighed quietly, relieved, before she opened the camera on her laptop.

Taking a deep breath, the Amari mimicked Angela’s pose, a frozen wave and a smile she hoped didn’t look insane, before she took a photo. She glanced at the image once, just checking she didn’t look like too much of an idiot, before she quickly wrote a message and sent the photo before clicking back to Lena’s chat. Fareeha couldn’t let herself dwell on the picture, or all her insecurities would tumble out and she’d delete the message and leave the chat room before Angela could even reply.

There was nothing for a couple minutes, Fareeha continuing to type away about Amélie to Lena, before the chat pinged again. ‘Reeha closed her eyes, dread settling deep in her gut, before she finished the message to Lena, pressed enter and pushed her computer away from herself.

She didn’t want to check it. This was all too much.

First being away from home with a roommate she didn’t understand and friends she didn’t know how to talk to, and now there was a pretty girl looking at her picture and she probably just sent Satya a private message about how ugly she thinks ‘Reeha is and Satya will agree and they’ll stop talking to her and she’ll have to spend the whole semester on her on without anyone to talk to and-

The Amari closed her eyes again. She breathed deeply, counting to ten. She needed to relax. It was okay. Angela had welcomed her to the group. Satya said she liked being friends.

Fareeha pulled her computer back to her lap. She ignored whatever Lena said, she could check it later, and went to the group chat.

‘Ooh, I like your beads! Do you wanna join me, @Symmetra, and @SpiderQueen at the library tomorrow?’ Angela had asked. Fareeha smiled, and a glance up at her roommate told her the architect also liked the suggestion.

‘Sure, if it’s not too much trouble?’ She asked, not wanting to officialize the plans in case Amélie didn’t want her there. 

Eventually it came down to Angela just insisting, and in the end they agreed on a time and it was settled. Fareeha smiled, typing goodbye before the girl went offline. She went back to her chat with Lena, and blinked at the tirage of messages she had missed.

‘omg! its not the same amelie that i met in the library rite??’

‘shes got brown hair? rly tall? French??’

‘reeha!! whered u go??? answer me!! is it her????????’

Fareeha rolled her eyes, then said she’d been busy checking something. Lena immediately responded, mostly just repeating her questions. ‘Reeha was a little surprised that the brit knew Amélie, but that might explain why the girl had seemed familiar. Lena probably mentioned her in one of her crazed babbles where Fareeha could never follow what she was saying but somehow a smile and a nod was all she needed to give for Lena to switch the subject.

‘well is it her??’ Lena asked.

‘I don’t know, probably.’ Fareeha responded, leaning back against the headboard of her bed. Lena sent a bunch of messages she didn’t pay much attention to, instead trying to take a couple minutes to wrap her head around things. Right. 1 o'clock tomorrow at the library, which was a couple buildings over. It probably wouldn’t be as good as the library back home, which ‘Reeha assumed was the one where Lena had met Amélie (if it was even the same person) but hey, a library was a library. Not the most interesting hangout place for friends, but it could be worse.

Fareeha sighed, smiling. Satya and her friends were really nice. And the Amari hadn’t even met all of them yet. She wondered what else there was to discover...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yup k bye


	3. Hearing the Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The library it is.

Fareeha felt nerves eating away at her as she walked beside Satya, her bag slung over her shoulder. She had a couple of her books, and her newly set out schedule, and a map Satya had printed out for her. It wasn’t all necessary since Fareeha knew where most of her classes were already, but she guessed it’d be good to have a plan B if she forgot.

They were on their way to the library, Amélie and Angela had said they arrived a couple minutes ago, and Fareeha was terrified. She never really went to the library back at home, and when she did it was to get comic books with Jesse. She didn’t even know what books she was supposed to be getting. She had everything she needed for class, and she’d probably be spending all her free time talking to her friends anyway. Why had she agreed to a library of all places?

Oh right. Friends. And Angela.

They were going towards a huge old-looking building with two statues of lions at the entrance - it was an incredible cliché, but Fareeha couldn’t say she mindied. At least looking like every library ever meant it was familiar. As they got closer, Satya spoke up.

“This building was originally constructed in 1956, it’s had a lot of upgrades in terms of technology since then, but the structure itself hasn’t changed. A majority of it is concrete, so it would actually be more difficult to do an actual renovation job than just make small adjustments as time goes on,” She said, and Fareeha glanced over at her. Well. She was an architect, it made sense that she’d know about this stuff. But Satya didn’t stop there.

“Though, I believe the walls inside _have_ been painted in the past five years, and the carpet looked fairly recent the last time I checked, so I assure you they are devoted to keeping it as new as they can.” The girl smiled at Fareeha, and ‘Reeha blinked for a couple seconds before her brain kicked in and she smiled back.

“Wow. Is it like that for all of the buildings?” She asked, though she didn’t actually take a lot of interest with any of it. Satya brightened more though, so Fareeha guessed she was saying the right things.

“Yes, most of them. Apart from the dorms, which are mostly the same materials, but they’re obviously built differently because of all the levels. And the gender neutral dorms are incredibly new, so while the base foundations and all of the supports are concrete too, it’s mostly all wood on the inside. And all of the dorms are very well looked after.” Satya said, clasping her hands together. Fareeha nodded.

“Yeah, it all looked very tidy. The notice board had a lot of clubs and stuff, too. I think I might sign up for something.” She suggested.

“I believe you’d be good for a sports teams. There’s soccer, American football, netball, basketball, and some other noncompetitive ones as well. And asides from sports there’s also a lot of student run clubs, like the LGBT+ group, and there’s some bands around, and also small fan bases for games and movies. It’s a great way to make friends.” Satya stated. Fareeha smiled, shrugging slightly.

“Yeah, I’ll probably check them out later.” She replied. Walking up the stairs to the library slowly, the Amari felt the nerves come back.

“That ramp is recent, too. Well, not very recent, but overall, nineteen years isn’t a lot for this library.” Satya said, still unaware of ‘Reeha’s panic. The Amari nodded stiffly, not sure she could actually give an articulate answer right now.

As they walked into the building, Fareeha only just stopped herself from messing with the spinning door. She was very tempted to act like a kid in a candy store, but that wasn’t very grown up, and Fareeha was a grown up now, so she had to do grown up things.

Satya broke away to go look at a set of fliers under a notice board. There were a lot of sign up sheets identical to the ones in their dorm, plus a couple other different ones. Fareeha ignored them, mostly just standing and waiting while Satya shuffled the fliers around, taking one of each before she straightened the piles. When she turned back to ‘Reeha, she smiled, then motioned for the Amari to follow her through the library.

This place was huge. There was a big staircase to the floors above, and already non stop rows of different coloured books. Fareeha barely had time to properly take it in before Satya was walking away, determinedly heading past the shelves to an area very clearly labelled ‘Sciences’. The Amari followed her, bewildered by the hugeness of the library, and they were only on the first floor.

After swimming through the maze of books for a minute or two, Satya hurried over to a table in a corner of the library, where the lights were just slightly dimmed and the shelves gave way to a small area of couches and tables. Satya put her books down, immediately taking a seat. Next to her was Amélie, and the girl in the picture Fareeha had been sent last night.

“Hey, what’d we miss?” Fareeha asked, sitting across from Amélie. The ballerina nodded at her slightly, not bothering to answer her question. The blonde girl grinned brightly.

“We were just looking over our textbooks for the semester!” She said, and Fareeha noted she had a Swiss accent. Angela stood, leaning over the table to hold her hand out to ‘Reeha. “We talked in the group chat, yes? I’m Angela, in case you didn’t realize. Angela Ziegler.”

Fareeha grinned, shaking the girl’s hand. “Yeah, I remember. Fareeha Amari.” She introduced herself, and she felt her chest flutter at the way Angela’s eyes sparkled.

“Oh, really? As in, Ana Amari?” She asked, tilting her head. Fareeha nodded, blushing slightly.

“Yes, she’s my Mother. I used to have my father’s last name, but I prefer Amari.” She said, mirroring Angela and sitting back down in her chair.

“Fair enough, I suppose. It would be interesting if children were allowed to name themselves once they grew up. Of course, there is the ability to change a name legally, but it isn’t quite the same.” The blonde said, shrugging. Fareeha smiled.

“What would your name be?” She asked, leaning back in her chair. Angela got that sparkle in her eyes again, and Fareeha didn’t know why it felt so good to see that gleam.

“Oh, I’m not really sure. I like my last name how it is, but I’m not sure about my first name. Whenever people try to flirt with me they always call me an angel, and it’s not very creative.” She said, looking away. Fareeha shook her head.

“What did you expect? The name, plus how you look, it’s the easiest pick up line in the world.” She smirked. Angela blushed.

“How I look?” She asked, raising an eyebrow with a smirk. Fareeha felt her face heat up, and she looked away.

“Um, yeah, you- you’re- pretty, you know?” She mumbled. Angela giggled.

“Well, the same for you.” She replied. Fareeha faintly heard Amélie scoff, but she was too distracted by the blue in Angela’s eyes to be offended. Was that- was that flirting? Had Fareeha just flirted with a pretty girl and had that girl flirt back? Christ, this was new, and she really liked it. A lot. Like, a lot a lot. What was she meant to say next, though? Another compliment? Just leave it? Change the subject?

Satya broke the moment.

“Angela, Fareeha was considering joining a club, or a sports team. What would you suggest?” She asked, looking completely oblivious to the situation going on. In the time Fareeha had been talking to Angela, the architect had gotten out her textbooks and laid them neatly on the table.

“Oh, well there are plenty to choose from. I personally enjoy tennis, but I won’t have any time for it. Perhaps you could join football? Well, soccer, that is. There’s also American football. And basketball. I’m not sure what clubs are available this year though.” Angela said, smiling at Fareeha. The Egyptian nodded.

“Yeah, I might check them again when we go back to the dorms. But football sounds good. I mean, American football. And maybe basketball. Why don’t you have time?” She asked, tilting her head. Angela grinned.

“I’m studying to become a doctor. It’s going to take a while but I’ve been a full time student for a year so far and I’ve been getting top grades. I’m to do the first part of this semester normally, but at some point I’ll be given the opportunity to write a thesis. If it’s satisfactory I can be bumped up a couple years.” The blonde acted nonchalant, but Fareeha could see it really was something she was proud of.

“Damn, that’s impressive. Right now I only have social studies and psychology going for me.” She murmured, shrugging. Angela smiled.

“I’ve wanted to be a doctor ever since I was little. I used to pretend my dolls had fallen over and I got my mother to help me wrap bandages around them. I would join clubs and sports if I had time, but right now I’m stuck with studying and sometimes being a medic for the teams when we have proper games against other universities.” She leaned down to grab something from her bag, then held out an old notice about the last year’s big football game. Fareeha took the notice, reading over it as Angela elaborated.

“They’re always great games since everyone is welcome, including friends and family of all students. If you were to join the American football team you’d easily be able to save a few seats in the stands. Plus, in the carpark near the field people always play fun games and eat food before the match. Last year was great, we all had a lot of fun.” She said, glancing at Amélie and Satya. While Amélie just nodded absentmindedly, seeming much more interested in her book, Satya clapped her hands in delight.

“Indeed! It was excellent, Mei loved it especially. That was when we met Zarya, was it not?” She asked, looking to Angela. Fareeha blinked at the new name.

“Yes, she was in the carpark having an arm wrestle with that man, I think.” Angela replied, blinking at Satya.

“Zarya?” ‘Reeha asked. Both of the other girls looked back at her, and Satya nodded.

“Yes, she sometimes spends time with us at the gym, and I believe her and Mei are quite good friends.” She said, smiling. Fareeha blinked.

“Is she the other one in the group chat? R- Russian…?” She paused, struggling to remember the name. Angela smiled.

“Russian Bear. She loves working out.” She said, chuckling slightly. Fareeha grinned, loving the sound of Angela’s laugh.

“Right. Maybe I should meet her some time. I might be a bit swamped for a couple weeks though, and besides, I still don’t know any good places nearby to hang out.” She added, shrugging slightly. Angela lit up.

“Oh, I know some great cafés!” She said, pulling out her phone.

Fareeha smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yup


	4. Getting there

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> oh boy here we go

A week into her classes, Fareeha would say the whole University thing was going pretty well. Yes, unbelievably, she was somehow really confident about it so far. In her spare time she’d been doing a lot. For one thing, she’d managed to hit the gym with Amélie, where she also met Zarya, the pink-haired giant Russian woman who could lift about nine times Fareeha’s weight - it was true, Satya did the math.

Apart from that though, Fareeha had also gone to a few stores in town. There was an expensive but pretty cool looking clothes store, and dozens of misfit hipster cafés she checked out with Angela. On that note, actually, Fareeha was pretty sure she had a crush on Angela. The girl was incredibly fun to be around, with goofy jokes and lots to talk about, and on top of that she was also really pretty. And she knew great places to eat, which was always a plus.

‘Reeha’s classes had been fairly tame so far, not much different from the beginning of last year, with the difference being of course that they were now a lot more frequent. She was set to write a minimum 2,000 word essay once a week, the topic changing depending on what they looked at during class. There were also going to be monthly assignments too, and the work would probably change often, but so far it was going well.

Fareeha liked her classes, and she had put her name down for a few clubs. She joined the soccer and basketball teams, and Satya had invited her to go to the book club she was in sometime, even if it was just for one meeting. Though, the Amari had yet to decide if she wanted to go or not.

Overall, Fareeha was super excited about the start of the semester. The only problem she could think of off the top of her head would probably be the one that was happening right now. She was late for the little study meeting Satya and Mei organized in the bakery across the street from campus, and was mentally scolding herself for it. Satya had had some classes right before they were set to meet up, so Fareeha had been in their dorm on her own since midday, and she’d completely lost track of time.

The Amari brushed her hair quickly, trying to simultaneously pull a shirt over her head. After a couple seconds of struggling, she dropped the brush and tugged at her shirt, huffing. Grabbing her bag with her laptop and some books, Fareeha double checked she had her phone, wallet, and keys, then she was rushing out the door and scrambling to lock it behind her as she tried to send a text to Satya saying she’d be late. Fareeha had just about got the key twisted when she was halted by a young woman speaking behind her.

“Where are you off to?”

Fareeha turned to the stranger, blinking. There was a thin, pale woman with an Irish accent and short straight ginger hair leaning against the opposite wall one door over. Her left eye was blue, while her right was a unnatural, scary looking red. She had spoken calmly to Fareeha, but the Amari felt unnerved at the sight of the woman.

“Just going to meet up with my friends. Who are you?” She asked, trying not to sound as uncomfortable as she felt. The woman smiled, looking slightly friendlier, but it also felt sinister.

“Moira O’deorain. Your friends are Satya’s group?” She questioned. Fareeha nodded slightly, and the woman tilted her head, as if thinking.

“Well, they are a nice lot, I suppose. I’m not sure if they’re all still there, but I assume Mei stayed, at least.” She murmured, and it seemed like she was mostly just talking to herself. Fareeha stood there awkwardly for a few moments, before Moira spoke again.

“I must warn you, though, not everyone is as trustworthy as they seem. Even the innocent ones have dark sides, Fareeha.” She said, her eyes suddenly cold, though it didn’t really look like she was angry at Fareeha herself, more something else unmentioned. It seemed like the woman should have more to say, but she chose to leave it at that, turning to walk away. Yet after a second she glanced back.

“I wouldn’t recommend you tell them I talked to you. They don’t exactly view me as a good person to be associated with.” She stated. Then she was gone, turning the corner of the hallway. Fareeha stared after her, stunned. What just happened? What connection did Moira have to Satya and her friends? Should Fareeha be scared? 

Well, the woman had been intimidating, certainly, but at least she didn’t threaten Fareeha. The Amari knew she’d get answers if she asked Satya, but it sounded like that might jeopardize their friendship.

After a few minutes of pondering, Fareeha felt her phone buzz. She looked down, she hadn’t finished the text to Satya, and now she had just received one asking where she was. Shaking herself slightly, trying to clear her unease, the Amari took a deep breath and quickly tapped out a reply. Once it was sent she double checked the doorknob, then set off in the opposite direction from where Moira had gone. Well, she wasn’t sure what to make of all this, but she was going to try push it aside. Moira O’deorain. The name seemed familiar… 

~~

Fareeha blinked.

“Wait, so why are you testing them?” She asked, tilting her head at the six tiny different plants in front of Mei. The scientist giggled.

“For my assignment. You know, like how cacti can’t live in really rainy places. The seeds were frozen specially for us to grow to make sure they all start at the same time, we have to document the growth patterns with a lot of detail.” She replied, squeezing a few drops of water onto the leaves of one of the plants. Fareeha shook her head slightly.

“Sheesh, being a scientist sounds like a lot of work.” She mumbled, looking back down at her textbook. Mei hummed thoughtfully.

“It is, really, but I think out of all of us, Angela has the most work to do.” She said, glancing over at the blonde. Angela looked up, blushing slightly.

“Oh, uh, m-maybe…?” She murmured, looking kind of confused. It was adorable.

Fareeha grinned. “What are you working on?”

Angela got even more flustered, looking back down at her laptop.

“Oh, well, I- I’m supposed to have a project on how tendons and muscles connect in arms, and there are plenty of diagrams and pictures online, but if I want to have any images to show for a slide I’d need to make my own, because my professor has strict no plagiarism policies that I wouldn’t like to test.” She said, frowning at the screen. Fareeha blinked.

“Well, if you’d like I could help you. When is it due?” She asked, glancing subconsciously at her own arms. Angela seemed to follow her gaze, still blushing, and after a second her eyes lit up.

“Next week. Is it alright if she comes to our dorm tomorrow, Amélie?” Angela asked, turning to the brunette. Amélie didn’t look very happy with the idea, but she just shrugged slightly.

“Sure, I’ll be out anyway. Zarya requested I do leg day with her.” She muttered, tapping her pen against her book. Angela smiled.

“Great! How about twelve?” She asked Fareeha, and the Amari was momentarily put off by how soulful the blonde’s eyes were.

“Y-yeah, that should work for me. Soccer practice won’t start until next week.” She murmured, pulling out her phone to check her schedule. Angela clapped her hands, beaming.

“Perfect!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gasp!! encounter!!
> 
> gasp!! plans!! for a one on one 'study session' about arms!!
> 
> good luck, fareeha ;pp
> 
> edit 16/3/19 i live in new zealand and the christchurch shootings have me a bit shaken. hopefully a new chapter next week.

**Author's Note:**

> i always appreciate kudos/comments! feel free to point out any mistakes ;pp


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